Thursday, September 16, 2010

I knew I was hanging onto them for a good reason. I just didn't know what that reason was, until this week. I was clamoring around for a last minute birthday gift, with very little time and even less money...not a good combination for a winning gift! Luckily, I work best under pressure and came up with, what I think, is a pretty cute idea.

I found some adorable scrapbook papers in my stash that I've been hanging on to for years. I cut them to fit the can, mod podged them on, added a cute tag with vinyl letter stickers (all cut with my cricut), and voila.....a custom birthday bucket is born!

When you're finished decorating the buckets, you can stuff them full of all kinds of goodies. Army men, glow swords or crowns, silly putty, dvds, candy......the possibilities are endless! The best part.....you can totally customize them to fit the personality of the birthday child {and your budget as well}!

For this cute boy bucket, I ended up using a paint can you can buy at the craft store to decorate yourself. I had an old one I'd never used lying around, so I thought I'd put it to good use now! Better late than never, right?

This one was a bit more fun to put together, honestly. Boys are usually more adventurous and really dig things like flarp (noise putty, for those of you without young boys) and stretchy, gooey frogs and lizards!

I had so much fun making these birthday buckets, they might very well become my new gift staple! The price was right {free}, they were quick and easy, and they look so darn cute! How could you resist that? So, go dig those empty #10 cans out of the garbage and give them new life!

that is awesome! I am totally stealing this idea. I am bookmarking it, so when I do use it, I'll link to you and give you your props! I may not get the vinyl on, though. As I have made you well aware, I am scared of my Cricut. It lives in my closet and has rarely seen in the light of day. Sometimes I am afraid to walk into my closet because I know it's staring at me. And laughing. And mocking. I deserve it. Maybe I should just put her up for adoption. She deserves a better home. But, that would mean touching her. And she scares me...

That is so totally cute you won't need the following info... but just in case... Most stakes have a machine that will fix the top of the can so that it can be reused for food storage. You run it through the machine and then fill and seal as usual.

this is so cute! What a creative, simple idea. One question: it looks like you put a handle on the can... how did you do that? THanks for sharing. Could you email me? I probably won't check back for a response. katecreer@gmail.com

Hi, I love your cans, those are beautiful.One year we used one of those openers that doesn't leave sharp edges, to open a soup can. Washed it out carefully, not to ruin the label, and filled it with a bar of gourmet soap and a gift card to her favorite store, then glued the lid back on. Gave it to my 'crafty' daughter in law, and laughed when she opened the package and thought she had a can of Campbells Vegetable soup.

hi there! I just wanted to say hi and thanks for picking my family room at CSI Project! I don't know if I ever commented on this post before, but I love them and am totally going to keep it in mind - I often give buckets of arts and crafts as a gift, and these would be even better than buying the buckets.

I've missed your posts lately - I'm sure you're crazy busy! Can't wait to hear what you've been up to when you have time.

I'm totally going to have to steal this idea and use them for Christmas gifts! A pair of warms socks, some popcorn and some treats...what a perfect little gift! Yeehaw! Thanks for sharing your creativeness! I'n soooooooo excited. I also have a TON of paper and I'm not scrapping any more because of time so this uses it nicely!

I've been saving cans to make pencil holders. My Guy finds them and throws them away - if he doesn't use them for cooking grease or cleaning solvents. (That's what the glass jars w/ lids were for that I saw in the trash can too!) Ugh! I started hiding them but just tonight I have them sitting on the coffee table right now with fabrics. I told him that UPcycling is a cheap way to give gifts. I will show him this tutorial of the paint cans. Very nice work!

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